Pages

Tuesday

School. Life. Balance.

I have been struggling lately. It's that pesky balance thing again. I have said before I am not an unschooler. We do have a "school time" and I prefer hands on, interactive activities. The thing is, that is not happening.

Life in general the past few years has thrown us off balance. Paul went back to school. He changed jobs a couple times, we added a baby. And now we are in the middle of a tight budgeted, stressful last semester, getting ready to move and all that comes along with that.

So where does school fit in? The short of it...they read, they do a page or two in their language arts books, they do a math lesson and we read a chapter in history. Sometimes I remember to do spelling. Sometimes we add in typing practice. It's boring. It's dull. And I miss science.

But then there is all that life we are living. The part where my boys feed and water our animals. They collect eggs. They chop wood and help build fences. They help each other fix breakfast and help me do the laundry. They watch their sister so I can make lunch or get the goats hay.

And all of that is so important too. There is just no room in my head right now for elaborate lesson plans, and maybe that is okay. They are young. They are exploring. They are learning. And later, maybe in the winter, when all these stressors start to fall away we will have more time. For art. For experiments. For fun learning together.

So for now I try and suppress my guilt. For not being the teacher *I* want to be. And let life happen.

You *are* doing a great job. You've got a lot going on there and are still managing to get more done in a day than most folks. Love up that baby, and those adorable boys, and soon, when things are simpler, you'll be back to your old self. :-)

I needed this post & can soooo relate. It is such a balancing act for me to be the fun mom & actually get things done. I feel like no matter what I do, I am constantly struggling to find my groove. We've definitely had our share of curve balls thrown our way, then life changes, etc. but it gets harder & harder to return to the mom & teacher *I* want to me. Hang in there!! I agree with the other comments on this post & just wanted to add - "DITO"